Got my HD 7950 installed, is this a problem?

[balane]

I just installed it a couple of hours ago. It's a MSI 7950 TwinFrozr.

I have not overclocked it whatsoever and as of now I'm afraid too. Stock clocks are 880/1250

It's a fresh Windows 7 64 bit Home Premium install and the vid drivers are the beta 12.7

The ambient temperature of my office is 70F

The GPU idles at 47C with the fan at 1350 rpm - 39%

I refreshed my WEI scores and the temp of the GPU rose to 79C with the fan at 4223rpm - 81%

I then ran FurMark, although it's a very outdated copy, and when my card hit 84C at 100% fan the computer locked up, the screen went all yellow and then black and I had to do a system reboot. This took about 45 seconds of running FurMark.

So, my questions. This is the first video card I've ever had lock up on FurMark on the stock clocks so certainly this can't be normal. Do I have a bad card? Should I let it break in a while and try again? Is it possible the heatsink didn't get seated correctly from the factory? Should I try removing it and use some quality TIM? Should I box it up and send it back to NewEgg for a replacement?

On a side note, my card has a 6 pin connector and an 8 pin connector. Every 7950 I've seen has had two 6 pin connectors and every 7979 has had connectors like the one on my card. This strikes me as unusual as well. I checked in GPU-Z and it is only showing 1792 shaders. My hopes were up for a moment though.

 

[chimaxi83]

What kind of air flow does your case have? The card dumps heat into your case, so without adequate flow, your temps won't be great.

The 6/8 pin is just because it's a custom card, they did it to allow more power draw if you're overclocking.

 

[balane]

I don't even have my case back together yet so the card is basically sticking out into the air. The case is fine even when closed up though. Before this card I ran a 5870 with an overclock on it and never had any temp issues, it always ran nice and cool. But right now it definitely has plenty of cool air. That isn't the issue.

I take it by your response that my temperatures are high and that there is a problem then?

 

[Kaldorine]

Who knows? Maybe you should try to play some games and see if it locks up again.

 

[notty22]

Putting the side door/case back together might allow a better flow of clean/fresh air to the card. And with the door on, the exhaust fan (if you have one) to remove heated air, and not allow stagnant air to sit around the new card.

 

[balane]

I did play Secret World and the fans spin up really, really loud and the temps were in the mid-high 80's. If this card is working correctly then I hate it because it's too loud.

I'll put my case together and see if that helps. It has to go together at some point anyway.

Be back after I do that and stress it some.

 

[lopri]

I'd RMA it. Definitely something's not right. I've been looking around info on 7950 for some time, and that card is a very hit or miss. There is a chance that the cooler isn't making a proper contact with the GPU die, but you should not have to apply a fix on a faulty product on your own (voiding warranty, likely) when it's brand new.

Besides which, I have not seen a 7950 that at least doesn't do 1000 MHz at its default voltage yet.

 

[balane]

I put the case cover back on and it's no better. I loaded up skyrim and the computer locked up before the opening scene, riding in the cart, was finished.

Sucks. I bought this card because I liked my 5870 a lot. I'm sending it back.

 

[tviceman]

It sounds like the heatsink wasn't mounted properly. A chip with thermals that bad wouldn't pass q&a.

 

[balane]

should I try to reset the heatsink? I have some shin-etsu sitting here. It looks fairly straight forward.

 

[balane]

Well now I'm not so sure it's temp related. Furmark is locking it up at 62c.

What is the stock voltage on this card supposed to be? Mine tops out at 1.13v

If it isn't temperature related what else could it be? Could my power supply not be up to the job. It isn't the best PSU in the world so I've been told, it's this one;

http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Cases-and-Cooling/XClio-GreatPower-750W-Power-Supply-Review?aid=275

I got it because it was on a Johny Gury recommended list but everybody who hears the name tells me it's junk. It has given me no problems in the past however.

 

[lopri]

According to this review, your card's 3D voltage is 1.03V. Did you install a 3rd party software for overclocking?

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/HD_7950_Twin_Frozr_III/29.html

 

[balane]

The card included a 6 to 8 pin adapter. I noticed that on the 8 pin adapter end one of the pins is completely missing. Is it supposed to be this way? I looked around it seems like other 8 pin connectors have pins in all eight holes. Could this be causing the issue maybe?

here's a photo of it.

http://home.comcast.net/~lindermm/adapter.jpg

 

[balane]

According to this review, your card's 3D voltage is 1.03V. Did you install a 3rd party software for overclocking?

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/HD_7950_Twin_Frozr_III/29.html

Son of a gun, no I did not install anything. I installed the 12.7 beta driver software and that's it. I've not yet even opened the performance tab of CCC. It's running 100% as it shipped to me and the package was sealed.

Can I lower the voltage to 1.03v somehow?

 

[chimaxi83]

Ew, that adapater came with the card? It looks like my 4 year old made that :/

Sounds like a heatsink seating issue to me. See if it's loose, or if screws aren't tightened. If they are, I'd get rid of it. You shouldn't have to lower the voltage at all. My 7950 does 1.3V and sits around 65C, but it's a Gigabyte Windforce model. Still, the Twin Frozr has the same cooling performance, if not better.

 

[lopri]

That must be a mistake in packaging. Your card doesn't have a 8-pin adapter, so you shouldn't need it at all.

 

[balane]

If you see in my first post I say that my card struck me as unusual because it does have one six pin and one eight pin power connector.

http://home.comcast.net/~lindermm/plugs.jpg

Know that it does have an 8 pin plug, does my adapter with a missing pin look to be flawed and a possible culprit?

 

[balane]

I no longer believe temperatures are responsible but load in 3D is. It locks up in the 50's even, it just depends how much of a load is being placed on it.

I'm going to try 12.6.

I'm also worried my 6-8 adapter is messed up, can somebody verify if their 8 pin adapters have an empty hole?

 

[chimaxi83]

That's weird. All the 7950 TF III reviews show it as having 6+6 pin. Not sure what's up with that card man

 

[lopri]

that is very weird. 1.15~1.175 is HD 7970's voltage under 3D. It looks like there is a severe quality control issue on MSI's part.

So you have a 7950 with a PCB meant for 7970 (or just the power circuity), and 7970-like voltage regulation. That's what it sounds like.

 

[balane]

Yes, it does look like that to me but it should still be a working video card right? I'm not exactly happy about getting some kind of Frankenstein video card, I didn't know this ahead of time or I would have maybe went with another model.

 

[Shmee]

Interesting, I would contact MSI support. What does GPUz say about the card?

 

[tviceman]

If it is hard locking with no tweaks, then don't try to troubleshoot it and jus RMA it.

 

[balane]

GPU-Z
http://home.comcast.net/~lindermm/gpuz.jpg

Oh it's going back tomorrow for sure, I'm just messing around with it tonight because I had expected to play Secret World all evening but now I just don't have the desire. They say 2 weeks and a replacement will be in my hands.

I have another question, This card is PCI Express 3.0 x16 but my 1366 board (Asus P6T SE) is PCIE 2.0

Could that be causing issues?

 

[lopri]

Nah. Click on that blue questionmark and it will ask if you want to run a little app that stresses the GPU. And it explains why that happens.